Kids in The Kitchen -Pecan Florentines

I love this time of year! I love the holidayness :) (is that a word?) anyways I think its great! And from here on out I will probably be making cookies with Lu! Heres the deal, my family, its not big its HUGE and so last year I started baking for them instead of gifts! I never thought it would be enough, but I have come to the conclusion, baking for that many people is hard work, and it is very thoughtful, I mean I love when people give me baked goods, so what I am doing from here until Christmas is TRIAL cookies to see which I like best and which one I wanna do for my family. Most of these I have never even made but I have been scowering through books and blogs to find the best, most unique cookies I can find! And first up are **Pecan Florentines**1/2 cup of pecan halves finley ground (the recipe calls for 3/4 cup, but I didnt have any more)

1/2 cup of flour ... mix the ground pecans in with the flour.

meanwhile in a pot on medium heat bring to a boil, 1/3 cup packed brown sugar, 1/4 cup light corn syrup, 1/2 stick of butter, and 2 tablespoons of milk. ( I love my little Lu's eyes! aren't they big and beatiful.

After the brown sugar mixture comes to a boil stir it into the flour/pecan mixture. Place cookies on a greased-foiled cookie sheet, drop a tsp full, 3inches apart from each other. Bake on 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and lacy & cool completley before next step!

Place 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips in a small bag (ie: ziplock bag) seal and microwave in 30 second intervals, knead bag lightly, and microwave for another 30 seconds or until melted completly, Cut a small corner of bag and squeeze chocolate on the cookies.

Cookies are chewy when still warm, but when they cool they are crisp (they are suppose to be nice and crip. THE VERDICT: They were very pretty and very tasty cookies. I am however a bigger fan of chewy cookies! They are pretty fantastic though, different than most cookies, and have an unexpected factor to them, the chocolate on top never gets "hard" so I think it would be hard to pack them in tins, the chocolate would get everywhere, no longer making them the pretty cookies they are. This is a great cookie, I reccomend making it, and it is holidayish, however I don't think I found "our" cookie yet!

Lu loved them, she was all chocolate faced *wish I snapped a picture of her*

***If you have a great cookie recipe or holiday recipe PLEASE share! Don't forget to link up with Mr. Linky! Get in the kitchen with your kiddos and have fun!***

Mexican Pizzas

I made these mexican pizza's the other night and they were so GOOD! I had never even thought about making them before ... then I saw a great recipe, modified a bit for my family's taste and now its added to the list of favorites!

I have to say they are very filling too and better than *any* fast food! I wish I could get a better pic, I need one of those fancy cameras :)

heres the recipe:
1/2 lb ground beef
taco seasoning
1/4 cup water 1/2 can enchilada sauce (I get the red kind)
4 flour tortillas (10 inch)
cooking spray
2 tbsp chopped green onions
1/2 can (8 ounces) refried beans
1 cup diced tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes chopped up pretty fine)
1 cup shredded cheese
sliced black olives, optional
Dollop of sour cream

**Heat a large skillet over medium heat and cook the ground beef until brown, drain. Return to the heat taco seasoning and water. Continue to cook for several minutes, until cooked through, stirring often.
**Spray both sides of each tortilla with cooking spray and place directly on the middle rack of your oven. Bake for about 6 minutes, turning halfway through, until golden brown and crispy. Watch carefully so they do not burn. Remove to a baking sheet.
**Microwave the refried beans for 30-60 seconds, or until spreadable.
Lay 2 tortillas out on a baking sheet; top each with a spoonful of the beans, ground beef, and 1/4 cup cheese. Top with another tortilla and lightly press down.
**Top the second tortillas each with meat mixture, 1/4 cup enchilada sauce. Layer with diced tomatoes, cheese, green onions and a few black olives.
**Bake for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Cut into wedges and top with sour cream and/or salsa if desired.

AND ENJOY!!! SO TASTY!
Jump on over to Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays for more great recipes!

Kids In the Kitchen ... Pancake drawing

This week I decided we needed a little fun, some what different cooking experience in the kitchen! I really don't even know where I thought of this, I might have seen it here or there with all the blogs I take a peek at! But I will never remember :) I think that goes along with being a mom, having mommy brain and forgetfulness.

Anyhow this week was truly simple, yet fun and entertaining! We drew with pancake batter. I grabbed a mustard squiter I had from a previous get together and thats how it all started ....

A simple premade pancake mix ....

Stir in a little water .... When its nice and thick get your funnel out and pour into the mustard container! (the funnel is a must if you don't want alot of mess)

Make sure the pan is nice and hot, and greased (I stood very close to her in this process) Then start letting their creative juices flow, I let her draw or write whatever she wanted ....

And she drew her name and a prett little heart, I am guessing this is a good exercise to work on their garmmer skills!

I made MOM of course, the small heart, then I made a huge heart ....

which is what shes eating here, and she said the fork was not neccessary LOL!

**Please don't forget to link up your post, any kid friendly recipes, cookbooks, kids in the kitchen ect ect.. Thank you to all my loyal participates, and if you like what you see please follow**

Thankful Tree

I simply love the idea of the "Thankful Tree" which I learned from my sister over at Adventures of a Flake she has some super ideas and this is one of the many I have copied! I think the real beauty of the Thankful Tree is just simply being reminded of the things that we are Thankful for!
Mine is much smaller than Bran's but I am working with a smaller wall, however it still looks so cute!

We each have a different color mine is red, Lu's is green, and Joshy has yellow. Each day we write what we are Thankful for on a leaf and tape it up! At the end of the month we will have a FULL tree!!!

Its great!!! It reminds me of all the wonderful things in life!!!

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For more kid friendly stuff check out Ramblings of a Crazy Woman & I Blame My Mother & Keeping up w the Schultz Family

Kids In the Kitchen- Cute Muffin Cup Breakfast

I am getting a late start on my Kids In the Kitchen post this morning. Probably bc we ACTUALLY were cooking for the post THIS morning! I thought we would change it up and do breakfast! Nice change of pace, and something different than the ever so popular cereal!
I think they are called something like individual eggs, but I will call them cute little muffin cupped, bacon, egg, & cheese goodness! Thats a bit long for a title but thats ok!
First preheat oven to 375 degrees, and grate some cheese.
*yes she is having a frightening hair moment, as she just rolled out of bed* I cooked the bacon in a greased pan for a couple minutes, not cooking it through just a bit, where it is still pliable. Then Lu put them in a greased muffin cup (Wrap bacon slice around the inside of a muffin cup)
Drop a small pad of butter in the middle.
Followed by cheese, we used alot, because we like cheese!
Followed by an egg ... something I learned this morning is that my 6 yr old can crack an egg better than I can! I usually shy away from letting her crack the eggs, but this morning she was insistant on the fact that she could do it ... and she was right! Place in preheated oven for 15-25 mins depending on how cooked you want your egg!
Doesn't that look like yummy goodness? And when you cut it open you have oooey gooey cheese OOZING out mmm Yum!


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Wordless Wednesday-Halloween!

I thought I would share some Halloween photos of my family, and friends for Wordless Wednesday!

My little girl was "Fancy Nancy at Bedtime" she is adorable!

Our good friends went w/ us for trick or treating fun! Jac was a pumkin!

I love this picture! One day she will be the best big sister EVER! And as always it is SOOO HOT in Florida, my little Lu was not having the whole "wearing the costume for the entire night ordeal!" I shoulda got a "cooler" costume :) ahh well next year!

click here for more great Wordless Wednesday pictures!

Muffin Tin Monday- Outerspace

Today I did a quick MTM snack for Lu! I had a brain block for the outerspace theme ... Lu actually came up with 2 our of the 3 things! Good thing I have asmart kid :) I wish you could see the "alien" better It was sooo cute! A flattened marshmallow w/ pointy ears, and entinna and 3 eyes :)
Raisins for a black hole, and cheese and bologna for "Saturn" I used a melon baller to get the cheese in circles, and a toothpick to hold it together! Of course the foil muffin cups give it that outerspace feel!

Nice little after school snack! To my surprise she liked saturn the best! That girl does love cheese!!!!